2 . Joseph Francis Charles Rock (1884–1962) was an Austrian-American explorer, botanist, and anthropologist(人类学家). For more than 25 years, he travelled extensively through Tibet and Yunnan, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces in China before finally leaving in 1949.
In 1924, Harvard sent Joseph Francis Rock on a treasure hunt through China’s southwestern provinces—the Wild West of their day. But gold and silver weren’t his task : Rock, a distinguished botanist, sought only to fill his bags with all the seeds, saplings, and shrubs he could find. During his three-year expedition, he collected 20,000 specimens for the Arnold Arboretum(阿诺德植物园).
Botany, though, was just one of Rock’s strengths. As an ethnologist(民族学者), he took hundreds of photographs of the Naxi, a tribe in Yunnan province, recording their now-lost way of life for both Harvard and National Geographic, and took notes for an eventual 500-page dictionary of their language. His hand-drawn map of his travels through China’s “Cho-Ni” territory, in the Harvard Map Collection, includes more than a thousand rivers, towns, and mountains indicated in both English and Chinese, and was so well made that the U.S. government used it to plan aerial missions in World War II.
Scientist, linguist, cartographer, photographer, writer—Rock was not a wallflower in any sense. Arrogant and self-possessed, he would walk into a village or warlord’s place “as if he owned the place,” said Lisa Pearson, the Arboretum’s head librarian.
In declaring his successful return under the headline “Seeking Strange Flowers, in the Far Reaches of the World” , the Boston Evening Transcript ran a large photo of the daring explorer wearing in a woolly coat and fox-skin hat. “In discussing his heroism including hair-raising escapes from death either from mountain slides, snow slides and robber armies, he waves the idea away as if it is of no importance.”
The Arboretum and Rock parted ways after 1927, mainly because his trip cost Harvard a fortune—about $900,000 in today’s dollars. Fortunately, many of his specimens, many of his amazing photos, and his great stories remain.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．Rock’s service for the U.S government. |
| B．Rock’s cooperation with Harvard. |
| C．Rock’s work as a botanist. |
| D．Rock’s exploration in Southwest China. |
| A．He traveled through some uncivilized places in China. |
| B．His hand-drawn map was used in WWII. |
| C．He showed heroism by escaping difficulties. |
| D．He made headlines in Boston Evening News. |
| A．Excitedly. | B．Proudly. |
| C．Calmly | D．Nervously. |
| A．The vast expense. | B．The dangerous journey. |
| C．The challenging tasks. | D．The unknown world. |
3 . From early times, man has been interested in art. People have often worked together to collect and save the world's art treasures.
Fine art treasures from many countries are kept in an art museum called the Louvre (卢浮宫) in Paris, France. The works of art have been collected by the people of France over many centuries. It is the biggest art museum in the world.
The Louvre has not always been a museum. The first building was a fort (堡垒). In 1190, it was the king's castle with high walls and a round tower. It had a moat (护城河) to keep out the enemies.
Over the years, the number of buildings around the fort grew. By 1350, the fort was no longer needed and became a palace home for French kings and queens.During times of peace, new treasures were brought in. During days of war, many treasures were stolen, and the buildings were damaged.
When Francis Ⅰ became King of France in 1515, he brought in many artists from many countries. One of the artists was Leonardo da Vinci from Italy. He worked in Paris. Da Vinci's Mona Lisa is the best-known painting in the museum today.
In 1793, the Louvre became a public museum, just as it is now. It is a place where art treasures are kept for everyone to enjoy. Every year millions of people from all over the world come to the Louvre to see the master-pieces.
1. How long has the Louvre been a museum?| A．For over 800 years. |
| B．Since 1350. |
| C．Since 1515. |
| D．For over 200 years. |
| A．by the French people |
| B．by Francis |
| C．by Leonardo da Vinci |
| D．by people of the world |
| A．Da Vinci once stayed in France. |
| B．Mona Lisa is kept in the louvre. |
| C．The Louvre was once a church. |
| D．The Louvre is a place of interest to different people from all over the world. |
| A．In public museums the works of art will not be stolen. |
| B．In public museums the works of art will not be damaged. |
| C．In public museums artists can study the works of art. |
| D．In public museums everyone has a chance to enjoy the works of art. |
| A．A famous painting—Mona Lisa |
| B．A famous art museum—Louvre |
| C．A famous artist—Da Vinci |
| D．The great King—Francis |
4 . Stages of Hurricane: Simple Storms Grow Into Giants
A storm progresses through four different stages before it is actually considered a hurricane. First is a tropical disturbance (热带扰动), which has thunderstorms and rotating (旋转) winds. Next is a tropical depression (热带低气压), which is similar to a tropical disturbance, but has winds between 23 and 39 miles per hour. A tropical storm is the next level, which has stronger wind speeds between 40and 73 miles per hour. Once winds reach 74 miles per hour the storm is officially called a hurricane. The wind picks up energy from the warm surface ocean water.
As a hurricane crosses over land, it begins to become weaker or break apart and reduce in strength. This is because it is no longer over the warm ocean water that it needs for energy. At this point, a hurricane can still cause a lot of damage because of high winds, rain, and flooding. But unless it makes its way back over the open ocean, it is downgraded from a hurricane back to a tropical storm.
What’s Your Name, Hurricane?
Hurricanes and tropical storms are given names to help people recognize them. Scientists refer to hurricanes and storms by name as they track them across the ocean.
Before 1953, hurricanes were not given official names. From 1953 through 1978, hurricanes were only given female names, like Isabel, Camille, Claudette, and Wilma. Beginning in 1979, hurricanes were given the names of both women and men. Today, the names alternate male and female, and they are named in order of letters.
For example, in 2010, storms were named as follows: Alex (male), Bonnie (female), Colin (male), Danielle (female), Earl (male) and so on…
There are six different lists of names that change, so the same names are used every six years. The only way that a new name is added is when a hurricane has been particularly deadly or costly and the name is retired, then replaced with a new one.
1. Which of the following is the right order of stages of a hurricane?| A．Tropical depression, tropical disturbance, tropical storm, hurricane |
| B．Tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, hurricane |
| C．Tropical storm, tropical depression, tropical disturbance, hurricane |
| D．Tropical storm, tropical disturbance, tropical depression, hurricane |
| A．It breaks apart and forms tornadoes. | B．It returns to the ocean afterwards. |
| C．It moves more quickly. | D．It becomes less powerful. |
| A．take turns between | B．carry or |
| C．come from | D．cause trouble to |
| A．Six common hurricane names are often used. |
| B．An old name will be replaced every year. |
| C．Most of them are deadly and costly. |
| D．They didn’t have official names until 1953. |
5 . Golden Gate Park is in San Francisco, California. It is one of the largest urban
6 . Do you know Australia? Australia is the largest island in the world. It is smaller than China. It is in the south of the earth.
Last month we visited Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flowers’ exhibition.
Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos. After a short drive to any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep everywhere are sheep.
| A．The people of Australia are very hard-working. |
| B．Australia is big, but its population is not large. |
| C．Australia is the sixth largest country in the world. |
| D．The government has made enough laws to fight pollution. |
| E．After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside. |
| F．There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. |
| G．What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could. |
7 . Americans: Restless? Illiterate(文盲)？
Americans are queer people; they can’t rest. They have more time, more leisure, shorter work hours, more holidays, and more vacations than any other people in the world. But they can’t rest. They rush up and down across their continent as tourists; they move about in great herds to conventions(大会); they search the wilderness; they flood the mountains; they keep the hotels full. But they can’t rest. The scenery rushes past them. They learn it, but they don’t see it. Battles and monuments are announced to them on a tour bus. They hear them, but they don’t get them. They never stop moving; they rush up and down as Shriners, Masons, Old Graduates, Bankers—they are a new thing each day, always rushing to a reunion or something. So they go on rushing about till eventually the undertaker(殡葬工)gather them to a last convention.
Americans are queer people; they can’t read. They have more schools, and better schools and spend more money on schools and colleges than all Europe. But they can’t read. They print more books in a year than the French print in ten. But they can’t read. They cover their country with one hundred thousand tons of Sunday newspapers every week. But they don’t read them. They’re too busy. They use them for fires and to make more paper with. They buy eagerly thousands of new novels at two dollars each. But they read only page one. Their streets are full of huge signs. They won’t look at them. Their streetcars are filled with advertising; they turn their eyes away. Transparent colors, cart wheels, and mechanical flares whirl and flicker in the crowded streets at night. No one sees them. Tons of letters pour into the mail boxes, through the houses, and down the garbage cans. No one reads them.
1. The underlined word“queer”mean _________________.| A．strange | B．difficult | C．forgetful | D．friendly |
| A．When they are not allowed to. |
| B．When they feel tired and sleepy. |
| C．When they stop breathing eventually. |
| D．When they are seriously ill in bed. |
| A．by driving there in person |
| B．when they are on the tour bus |
| C．from books and magazines |
| D．from their friends and co-workers |
| A．To tell people the Americans are illiterate. |
| B．To prove the Americans to be a queer nation. |
| C．To make fun of the American way of life. |
| D．To give the readers information about USA. |
1. 约定去上海迪士尼的时间；
2. 告知交通方式；
3. 简单介绍园内表演和娱乐活动；
注意:1. 词数80左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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